Where do you start with Donald Sutherland?

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Where do you start with Donald Sutherland?
For me, as a young moviegoer, it was his trench-coated health inspector in Philip Kaufmanâs thrilling 1978 remake of âInvasion of the Body Snatchers.â The ending of that movie kept me awake at night for the better part of a week, giving me plenty of time to think about pod people, sure, but also this actor who had so mesmerized me. Wait ... he played Hawkeye in âM*A*S*Hâ? There was a âM*A*S*Hâ movie? Whoâs this Robert Altman guy?
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Many years later, I took my daughter to see âThe Hunger Games.â Before the film started, I told her to pay particular attention to the actor playing President Snow. Heâs one of the greats. And indeed he was.
Iâm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelopeâs Friday newsletter. What was your introduction to Donald Sutherland? And which of his movies will you be rewatching this weekend?
Ewan McGregor wouldnât shave off any years. That mustache? Another story.
Ewan McGregor is swiping through his camera roll, looking for the picture that explains why he will never grow another mustache â unless a job requires it. And even then, heâd probably argue that the character should be clean-shaven. DalĂ without a mustache? Surreal.
Before our conversation, I had resolved not to ask McGregor anything about facial hair. It seems that most of the interviews heâs done to promote his terrific Paramount+ With Showtime limited series âA Gentleman in Moscowâ have spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on the mustache he grew to play Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Russian nobleman sentenced to house arrest in a luxurious hotel following the 1917 revolution. Over four decades (and eight episodes), the good gentleman learns to let go of formalities and appreciate simple pleasures and embrace family.
But he never shaves off that damn mustache.
I spoke with McGregor not too long ago from the set of âFlowervale Street,â a movie so secret that when he mentions its name, he immediately panics. âOh, no. Iâm worried that I just blew the title.â When I tell him itâs out there, heâs relieved. He wrapped shooting at 6:30 that morning, and here he was with me on Zoom, 4œ hours later. âIâm somewhat upside down, but itâs all good,â he says.
It was all good. Heâs a delightful hang, and we covered the waterfront â but not âFlowervale Street.â
When I tell him that all I know about âFlowervale Streetâ is that David Robert Mitchell (âIt Follows,â âUnder the Silver Lakeâ) wrote and directed it, and that itâs a mystery, and it might be set in the 1980s and that it might have dinosaurs, he says, smiling:
âWell, Iâm not at liberty to discuss that in any way, so it could be in the â70s with, you know, rodents. But itâs great fun.â
As was the interview.

Emmys 2024: Early predictions (and voting advice)
Emmy voting is underway, and if youâre one of the 24,000 Television Academy members wondering if thereâs still time to binge-watch all three seasons of âReservation Dogsâ to finally get up to speed, the answer is: Yes. But get busy. Ballots are due June 24.
Is there ever enough time to watch everything and be a fully informed Emmy voter? Probably not. There are a handful of shows I never got around to viewing, despite my best intentions. And no, Iâm not revealing them because I donât need your judgment. I didnât chastise (beyond a little silent rebuke to myself) latecomers to âReservation Dogs,â as I donât think you can blame anyone for not sampling each and every one of the more than 300 series submitted. Unless you didnât watch âShĆgun.â Then we need to talk.
Another problem vexing voters this year is that there are too many worthy contenders in the limited series categories and not enough decent dramas to reward, making balloting equally challenging but for different reasons. Comedies? Just right. As long as âReservation Dogsâ is finally rewarded. But again, no judgment. (Yet.)
I offered a quick rundown of the 15 main categories in a recent column. Whom did I miss? Maybe Paul Rudd for âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ? That intense conversation he had with a cookie still lingers in my mind.

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Revisiting âOrdinary Peopleâ
I asked earlier which Donald Sutherland movie you might be revisiting this weekend. For me, itâs âOrdinary People,â a wrenching portrait of a family torn apart by tragedy. Sutherlandâs sensitive portrayal of a father caring for his distraught son (Timothy Hutton) while beginning to question his love for his wife (Mary Tyler Moore, an inspired casting choice) is tremendously moving. When I first saw the movie in 1980, I was younger than Hutton. And now Iâm older than Sutherland when he made it. I suspect itâll hit me a bit differently.
Thanks, as always, for sharing some of your time with me. I hope you have a great weekend.

Feedback?
Iâd love to hear from you. Email me at glenn.whipp@latimes.com.
Canât get enough about awards season? Follow me at @glennwhipp on Twitter.
From the Oscars to the Emmys.
Get the Envelope newsletter for exclusive awards season coverage, behind-the-scenes stories from the Envelope podcast and columnist Glenn Whippâs must-read analysis.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.